(Continued from the front of SpartanMag.com. For part one, click here: https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/salem-play-fast-and-know-the-math)
If anyone thinks it’s awkward for Salem to give orders to former bosses, they weren’t around here when Nick Saban was giving orders to his former boss at the Naval Academy, Gary Tranquill. It’s part of coaching.
Salem was a graduate assistant back then at Michigan State, by the way.
“You grow up as a kid, the son of a coach, and you see your brother go through it and my dad,” Salem said of changing jobs and roles. “You can’t control what happens in the coaching profession in terms of when and where.
“I was Coach Bollman’s G.A. in 1995 and have worked with everybody in the room so there are friendships and relationships there. I will say that I don’t know if this can be done at many places but it can be done here - partially because there are not the egos in the room. We know that we have to do it together. We know that we have to rely on each other. The moves have kind of spurred all of us, coaching different positions, and really to narrow down our focus on what we need to accomplish on offense.”
The rebuild is heading into its eighth month.
“The situation came up in January,” Salem said of the coaching changes and his new assignment, “so we were able to thoughtfully go through it together. We researched through the whole off-season: What are things that schematically fit the people that we have? Everything from formationally to offensive structure and plays. And obviously we have to teach that, and move forward every single day.”
Translation: Salem isn’t arrogant to think that his X’s and O’s will work regardless of who are the Jimmies and Joes.
“We adjust to each other, and things that we have done football-wise,” Salem said. “There is a little bit of freedom but the biggest thing comes down to execution and getting kids to play fast.”
A little bit of freedom to put his own tweaks and tangents into the offense. That freedom will be in place for Salem - as was the case when Treadwell had the keys to the offense, and when Dan Roushar took over, and then when Warner and Bollman co-coordinated the offense. The Spartan offense was a little bit different under each coordinator, if you looked closely.
The differences will be more stark this time. But they’ve been stark before.
There were times when Warner went to the air much more than his predecessors, or operated out of the shot gun more than Dantonio’s had in the past. Too air-friendly? That description might seem strange to the rank and file Warner basher, but the Spartans operated out of the shot gun for more than 60 percent of the snaps during the first half of Warner’s first game on the job in 2013. By the 14th game of that season, the Spartans were fortunate to have that element of the offense in place, because they had to resort to it against a great Stanford defensive front that wouldn’t give up an inch on the ground. That flexibility in the offense was a major factor in the Spartans winning the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
There were other times when Michigan State lost games after going to the air more than Dantonio preferred. On more than one occasion, Dantonio shared with media and the public that the Spartan offense needed “to get back to who we are.” That meant more ground-and-pound, less finesse.
Now, with changes coming in the Salem era, will the offense deviate from what Dantonio used to describe as “who we are”?
“You still have to run the ball,” Salem said. “If you can’t run the ball, you can’t win. Whether it’s different formations or different tempo, that’s still a fact of football. So we’re working in that nature and trying to find other different wrinkles that fit our system and fit our people.”
MOVE TOWARD THE MAINSTREAM
Aside from injuries, the biggest hiccup for Michigan State’s offense in recent years has been the inability to road-grade defenders out of the box with a dominant, run-blocking offensive line. But in today’s game, the best means of running the ball sometimes entails the use of formations to get defenders out of the box, rather than trying to smash through them. The margin of error is so slim when trying to win seven or eight individual blocking battles inside the box in hopes of wringing out three or four yards.
The most forgiving way to move the ball is with spread formations, and last-second choices sewn in for the quarterback. Mix in some fast tempo, and it’s become harder, within today’s rules, for a defense to stop an offense like than than the old conventional offenses.
“You’re fortunate to have a head coach from the defensive side of the ball,” Salem said. “He understands what’s hard to do defend. He says, ‘Hey, this gives us trouble.’ Well, then we should probably do that. And we will do that. So we have moved out of the box.”
The move toward the mainstream began last December when Warner was still in charge. Michigan State’s no-huddle offense in the Redbox Bowl produced only six points, but the look and feel was different. Michigan State began using a pistol formation for the first time. Michigan State went no-huddle, although not necessarily uptempo. Look for Michigan State to do some of both under Salem.
“We will be in and out of tempos and things like that but it is something that I think has been a good change for us since spring,” Salem said. “The one thing with tempo is it simplifies both sides. It has to be simpler, which is a positive. You can only do so much in no-huddle. You can’t do it all. It forces what you have to do offensively but it also simplifies them a little bit defensively just because of time.”
Many football idiots believe the use of spread formations and fast tempo means pass, pass, pass. That’s the simpleton’s definition of exciting, unpredictable football.
Oklahoma and Clemson run the shiniest, most exciting offenses in the game, right? Even the simpletons would agree.
Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense last year and Clemson ranked No. 3.
Simpletons might be surprised that Oklahoma’s pass-to-run ratio was 401-to-527. The Sooners ran the ball far more than they threw it.
Michigan State had a 497-465 pass-to-run ratio last year. Read: The Spartans passed the ball more than they threw it.
Clemson was 508-568, with an edge toward the run.
Clemson ranked No. 3 in the nation in rushing, among major conference teams. Oklahoma ranked No. 4.
Spread-to-run is one way to describe it. If the defense backs too many players out of the box in order to cover the receivers with two high safeties, then the check-with-me and/or the RPO calls for the QB to keep it or hand it off rather than throw it. Michigan State has had some of those elements in the offense in the past, but there will be more this year.
The interior blocking of many Clemson running plays was similar to Michigan State last year. The X’s and O’s on the chalkboard were often similar. They just had different types of healthy athletes.
“If you teach big-picture football, something like ‘power’ is ‘power,’” Salem said.
“Power” is a running play in which the backside guard pulls and becomes a lead blocker on the front side. Michigan State has run “power” a lot, over the years, in the Dantonio era. Wisconsin majors in it, with multiple pullers including H-backs and fullbacks.
Most spread teams stick to simple zone blocking. But Clemson and Auburn have been among those who include heavy doses of ‘power’ to go with all those shifts, motions and threats of RPO (run pass options).
“Power is power whether you have a guy in motion, or is it to a tight end side, or not?” Salem said. “Is it one-back, two-back? It’s still power. It’s a kickout (block), a double-team and a puller. It’s still power. It doesn’t really change (based on the formation). It’s just how you go about it.
“But can you mathematically, numbers-wise, get yourself in a better position so you don’t have to block as many guys?”
Now we’re getting conceptual. And that’s where Salem’s clinic goes quiet, for now - until the opener against Tulsa.
The offense we see that night, and in the games that follow, will represent a career’s worth of wiring within Salem’s football DNA, along with his knowledge of the strength and weaknesses of Michigan State’s personnel.
“There’s always ideas and thoughts from where you’ve been as a coach,” Salem said. “You sort of coach to your personality and things that have been attractive to you. You learn so much football in the last nine years because we have done so much different, offensively. The game is evolving, too. Every year, you just learn more as a coach.
“You’re able to sit and observe, and you just put that in your playbook, and your ideas of what you’ve done or things you’ve seen other people do and that was part of the research in the off-season, watching all these other teams, teams that we have played, or teams we knew, or coaches that I know, and you’re just trying to connect all the dots so that it makes sense to your guys. But you still have to be able to do the things your players can do and then guys obviously have to make the plays.”
That part is timeless, too.
“My dad used to say, ‘The team that makes the least mistakes is going to win,’” Salem said. “That’s what you’re trying to do - eliminate negative plays. You’re seeing 85 different fronts; this game is complicated. So you try to teach and train for those situations. Know who to block.”
With knowledge comes speed and power.
“The faster guys can play, the better,” Salem said.
Pat Narduzzi used to say the same thing. Mike Tressel says it now.
They’re not talking footspeed. They’re talking about brain-processing speed, leading to fast feet. That involves teaching and learning. That involves preseason camp.
“Part of that is this process we go through for four weeks - from meetings, to getting the kid on the board to draw it, to watch it on video, to rep it in practice,” Salem said. “I always say a guy has to mess something up to figure it out. So you have to fight through that process, and they need to be willing to ask questions, and we need to figure out where are they at and what do they really know.”
And there’s no anxiety for Salem in that process - for now.
If anyone thinks it’s awkward for Salem to give orders to former bosses, they weren’t around here when Nick Saban was giving orders to his former boss at the Naval Academy, Gary Tranquill. It’s part of coaching.
Salem was a graduate assistant back then at Michigan State, by the way.
“You grow up as a kid, the son of a coach, and you see your brother go through it and my dad,” Salem said of changing jobs and roles. “You can’t control what happens in the coaching profession in terms of when and where.
“I was Coach Bollman’s G.A. in 1995 and have worked with everybody in the room so there are friendships and relationships there. I will say that I don’t know if this can be done at many places but it can be done here - partially because there are not the egos in the room. We know that we have to do it together. We know that we have to rely on each other. The moves have kind of spurred all of us, coaching different positions, and really to narrow down our focus on what we need to accomplish on offense.”
The rebuild is heading into its eighth month.
“The situation came up in January,” Salem said of the coaching changes and his new assignment, “so we were able to thoughtfully go through it together. We researched through the whole off-season: What are things that schematically fit the people that we have? Everything from formationally to offensive structure and plays. And obviously we have to teach that, and move forward every single day.”
Translation: Salem isn’t arrogant to think that his X’s and O’s will work regardless of who are the Jimmies and Joes.
“We adjust to each other, and things that we have done football-wise,” Salem said. “There is a little bit of freedom but the biggest thing comes down to execution and getting kids to play fast.”
A little bit of freedom to put his own tweaks and tangents into the offense. That freedom will be in place for Salem - as was the case when Treadwell had the keys to the offense, and when Dan Roushar took over, and then when Warner and Bollman co-coordinated the offense. The Spartan offense was a little bit different under each coordinator, if you looked closely.
The differences will be more stark this time. But they’ve been stark before.
There were times when Warner went to the air much more than his predecessors, or operated out of the shot gun more than Dantonio’s had in the past. Too air-friendly? That description might seem strange to the rank and file Warner basher, but the Spartans operated out of the shot gun for more than 60 percent of the snaps during the first half of Warner’s first game on the job in 2013. By the 14th game of that season, the Spartans were fortunate to have that element of the offense in place, because they had to resort to it against a great Stanford defensive front that wouldn’t give up an inch on the ground. That flexibility in the offense was a major factor in the Spartans winning the 100th Rose Bowl Game.
There were other times when Michigan State lost games after going to the air more than Dantonio preferred. On more than one occasion, Dantonio shared with media and the public that the Spartan offense needed “to get back to who we are.” That meant more ground-and-pound, less finesse.
Now, with changes coming in the Salem era, will the offense deviate from what Dantonio used to describe as “who we are”?
“You still have to run the ball,” Salem said. “If you can’t run the ball, you can’t win. Whether it’s different formations or different tempo, that’s still a fact of football. So we’re working in that nature and trying to find other different wrinkles that fit our system and fit our people.”
MOVE TOWARD THE MAINSTREAM
Aside from injuries, the biggest hiccup for Michigan State’s offense in recent years has been the inability to road-grade defenders out of the box with a dominant, run-blocking offensive line. But in today’s game, the best means of running the ball sometimes entails the use of formations to get defenders out of the box, rather than trying to smash through them. The margin of error is so slim when trying to win seven or eight individual blocking battles inside the box in hopes of wringing out three or four yards.
The most forgiving way to move the ball is with spread formations, and last-second choices sewn in for the quarterback. Mix in some fast tempo, and it’s become harder, within today’s rules, for a defense to stop an offense like than than the old conventional offenses.
“You’re fortunate to have a head coach from the defensive side of the ball,” Salem said. “He understands what’s hard to do defend. He says, ‘Hey, this gives us trouble.’ Well, then we should probably do that. And we will do that. So we have moved out of the box.”
The move toward the mainstream began last December when Warner was still in charge. Michigan State’s no-huddle offense in the Redbox Bowl produced only six points, but the look and feel was different. Michigan State began using a pistol formation for the first time. Michigan State went no-huddle, although not necessarily uptempo. Look for Michigan State to do some of both under Salem.
“We will be in and out of tempos and things like that but it is something that I think has been a good change for us since spring,” Salem said. “The one thing with tempo is it simplifies both sides. It has to be simpler, which is a positive. You can only do so much in no-huddle. You can’t do it all. It forces what you have to do offensively but it also simplifies them a little bit defensively just because of time.”
Many football idiots believe the use of spread formations and fast tempo means pass, pass, pass. That’s the simpleton’s definition of exciting, unpredictable football.
Oklahoma and Clemson run the shiniest, most exciting offenses in the game, right? Even the simpletons would agree.
Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense last year and Clemson ranked No. 3.
Simpletons might be surprised that Oklahoma’s pass-to-run ratio was 401-to-527. The Sooners ran the ball far more than they threw it.
Michigan State had a 497-465 pass-to-run ratio last year. Read: The Spartans passed the ball more than they threw it.
Clemson was 508-568, with an edge toward the run.
Clemson ranked No. 3 in the nation in rushing, among major conference teams. Oklahoma ranked No. 4.
Spread-to-run is one way to describe it. If the defense backs too many players out of the box in order to cover the receivers with two high safeties, then the check-with-me and/or the RPO calls for the QB to keep it or hand it off rather than throw it. Michigan State has had some of those elements in the offense in the past, but there will be more this year.
The interior blocking of many Clemson running plays was similar to Michigan State last year. The X’s and O’s on the chalkboard were often similar. They just had different types of healthy athletes.
“If you teach big-picture football, something like ‘power’ is ‘power,’” Salem said.
“Power” is a running play in which the backside guard pulls and becomes a lead blocker on the front side. Michigan State has run “power” a lot, over the years, in the Dantonio era. Wisconsin majors in it, with multiple pullers including H-backs and fullbacks.
Most spread teams stick to simple zone blocking. But Clemson and Auburn have been among those who include heavy doses of ‘power’ to go with all those shifts, motions and threats of RPO (run pass options).
“Power is power whether you have a guy in motion, or is it to a tight end side, or not?” Salem said. “Is it one-back, two-back? It’s still power. It’s a kickout (block), a double-team and a puller. It’s still power. It doesn’t really change (based on the formation). It’s just how you go about it.
“But can you mathematically, numbers-wise, get yourself in a better position so you don’t have to block as many guys?”
Now we’re getting conceptual. And that’s where Salem’s clinic goes quiet, for now - until the opener against Tulsa.
The offense we see that night, and in the games that follow, will represent a career’s worth of wiring within Salem’s football DNA, along with his knowledge of the strength and weaknesses of Michigan State’s personnel.
“There’s always ideas and thoughts from where you’ve been as a coach,” Salem said. “You sort of coach to your personality and things that have been attractive to you. You learn so much football in the last nine years because we have done so much different, offensively. The game is evolving, too. Every year, you just learn more as a coach.
“You’re able to sit and observe, and you just put that in your playbook, and your ideas of what you’ve done or things you’ve seen other people do and that was part of the research in the off-season, watching all these other teams, teams that we have played, or teams we knew, or coaches that I know, and you’re just trying to connect all the dots so that it makes sense to your guys. But you still have to be able to do the things your players can do and then guys obviously have to make the plays.”
That part is timeless, too.
“My dad used to say, ‘The team that makes the least mistakes is going to win,’” Salem said. “That’s what you’re trying to do - eliminate negative plays. You’re seeing 85 different fronts; this game is complicated. So you try to teach and train for those situations. Know who to block.”
With knowledge comes speed and power.
“The faster guys can play, the better,” Salem said.
Pat Narduzzi used to say the same thing. Mike Tressel says it now.
They’re not talking footspeed. They’re talking about brain-processing speed, leading to fast feet. That involves teaching and learning. That involves preseason camp.
“Part of that is this process we go through for four weeks - from meetings, to getting the kid on the board to draw it, to watch it on video, to rep it in practice,” Salem said. “I always say a guy has to mess something up to figure it out. So you have to fight through that process, and they need to be willing to ask questions, and we need to figure out where are they at and what do they really know.”
And there’s no anxiety for Salem in that process - for now.
